A California man has surely been slapping himself on the forehead since discovering that he sold a safe he found on eBay for a final bidding price of $123 -- only to find out later that $26,000 was tucked away inside the safe.

James Labrecque, who has been using eBay for more than a decade, somehow managed to sell the safe on the popular bidding website for $122.93 without realizing that there were thousands of dollars already in his possession.

"I made a mistake, you know, that's what it boils down to. And it cost me dearly," Labrecque told WMC-TV.

The lucky buyer, a man from Tennessee, informed Labrecque of the contents of the safe.

Labrecque told the news station the safe had no key, and after shaking it up a bit, he determined that it must have been empty, so he put it on eBay.

The Tennessee man who won the safe, after receiving it, immediately took it to a welder to have it cut open and discovered the $26,000 cash inside.

As WMC-TV reports, the unidentified buyer gave Labrecque a positive review on eBay.

"I feel like the stupidest idiot in the world," said Labrecque. "I told my friend, I won the stupidest idiot in the world award the other day, you know. I gave away a safe with $26,000 in it."

Labrecque reportedly asked for a cut of the cash, but the Tennessee man who doled out $123 for the precious safe, said no way.

Labrecque, who reportedly has been selling and buying on eBay for 15 years, will likely never repeat this financial faux pas.

"That's a chunk of change, you know. That's life-altering money," he told WMC-TV. "I mean, if I was in that situation and I found that kind of money and I bought it from someone, I'd say, 'Here man, I found this money. I'll give you half of it.'"